The American Mind

There’s two pretty wacky stories I’ve read today. First, in Sheboygan Falls, WI a laundry found a bomb in a load of laundry. The Milwaukee bomb squad was called into disarm it. Talk about your customer from hell.

Next we have James Rutz calling soybeans a “devil food.” Rutz claims soybeans contain a lot of estrogens–a female sex hormone. (Soy actually contains isoflavones which have “estrogen-like effects on mammals.”) All that estrogen “leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality.” Yeah, soybeans cause gayness. I can see the new soybean advertising campaign: Soybeans: The Gay Legume.

One way to find evidence of Rutz’ wild claim is to study people where they consume lots of soy. There are places, like some Caribbean islands, where it’s too expensive to raise dairy cows. Soy milk is their replacement. So if Rutz is correct one should find a higher percentage of homosexuals.

While I doubt a simple increase of a hormone-like substance can affect something as complex as one’s sexuality some of Rutz’s other warnings about soy are supported independently, especially that about thyroid problems. Laura Lane wrote this for WebMD:

Another fear is that the estrogen-like substances in soy may dampen the function of the thyroid. Consuming 40 milligrams of isoflavones a day can slow the production of thyroid hormone, says Dr. Larrian Gillespie, author of “The Menopause Diet” and “The Goddess Diet.” (One tablespoon of soy powder contains about 25 milligrams of isoflavones, while most isoflavone supplements come in 40-milligram pills.)

According to Gillespie, within a few weeks of regularly consuming 40 milligrams of isoflavones, some women feel fatigued, constipated and achy all over. Some also gain weight and have heavier menstrual periods. Menopausal women are at particular risk, since they’re already prone to hypothyroidism. “Women think it’s because of hormones and don’t realize they’re symptoms of hypothyroidism,” Gillespie says. “Once they stop the soy, they say, ‘I’m feeling fine again.’ ”

I won’t be surprised that the once adored soybean will one day be vilified by the same health “experts” who first touted it. Some health busybodies might even ban them like New York City did with trans fats.

“A Devil Food is Turning our Kids into Homosexuals”

“Soy Causes Homosexuality”

“Columnist Claims Soy Products Reduce Penis Size, Make Men Gay”